


Bi the Way

by 8Verity8



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Bi-Reveal, Calling people out, Emotional Roller Coaster, Emotional whiplash too, F/F, F/M, Isobel & Liz drunken bonding, Isobel is DONE with Malex's shit, Kyle is the man, M/M, POV Alex Manes, POV Isobel Evans, POV Multiple, Poor Max, Sexual Tension, Small display of ptsd symptoms, Snarky Isobel Evans, Swearing, for the characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 22:58:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21144629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/8Verity8/pseuds/8Verity8
Summary: The Pod Squad gang learn something new (& quite surprising) about Kyle while hanging out at the Pony one night. Although, Alex isn't shocked by the news at all. This leads to a night filled with emotional outbursts, confessions, some drunken bonding and perhaps a little tease of something more to come.





	Bi the Way

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on my phone during the down times at work. I edited it, of course, on a real computer and marginally less distracted, but it is unbeta'd, so I apologize for any lingering mistakes. 
> 
> This does jump back and forth between Alex and Isobel's point of view. I've tried to make it clear when a switch happens, but please let me know if it gets confusing. I was trying out a new style!
> 
> Enjoy!

**ALEX**

“Who the hell invited Kyle?”

“I did, so be nice,” Liz smacked Michael’s arm playfully as Alex glanced at the door. “I didn’t think he was coming though,” she added. “He said he was busy tonight.” 

“Kyle!” Alex called out over the noise of the bar, raising his arm in a small wave to get his attention. Kyle returned the wave but his eyes continued around the room, looking for something... or someone.

“I get the feeling he’s not here for us,” Alex smirked as Liz’s eyes grew wide.

“Do you think he’s meeting up with a date?” Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she craned her neck to peak around Max and spy on Kyle as he walked up to the bar.

“God, I hope not,” Isobel whined. “It would be nice to have someone to talk to for once who isn’t actively trying to eye fuck one of my siblings at the same time.”

Alex had chosen the wrong time to take a drink and was too busy choking on liquid to appreciate Michael and Max’s response to _ that._

“Oh please,” Isobel interrupted giving them both a disgusted look. “Don’t get me wrong, I get it, Max just returned from the dead and—”

“Isobel,” Max hissed, frantically looking around the bar to see who might have overheard her as Isobel rolled her eyes.

“Oh my god Max, nobody cares. They’re all too busy getting shit faced. All I’m saying is, it would be nice to talk to someone who isn’t all disgustingly adorable and lovey-Dovey… and don’t even get me started on these two!” she warned, waving a finger between him and Michael.

“Hey!” 

“Oh good, he’s heading this way.” Isobel sat up a bit straighter and took a sip of her drink, blatantly ignoring Michael.

Glancing at the bar confirmed that Kyle was indeed heading this way, beer in hand. Either his “date” hadn’t arrived yet, or they had seriously misjudged what Kyle was doing here at the Pony.

“You said you were busy tonight,” Liz accused playfully in lieu of a greeting, causing Kyle pull up short in surprise.

“What she meant to say,” Alex interrupted with a roll of his eyes, “Is, Hi Kyle, it’s so nice to see you, glad you could make it.”

Kyle laughed, raising his drink in a mock salute as Alex moved closer to Guerin, freeing up space for him in the already cramped booth. A spark of desire coursed through him at the contact and he stiffened up when a soft gasp escaped unbidden. Michael had tensed up too, though he couldn’t tell if it was from him pressing up against him or from Alex’s obvious response to it.

A delicious burn coursed down his right-side where the heat from Michael’s body sank into him. An overwhelming onslaught of conflicting emotions raced through him, turning his brain to mush. Touching Michael always felt like coming home and like walking a tight-rope at the same time, the feelings taunted him, tempting him to surrender, but he couldn’t afford to. Not yet anyways. Not when they were trying to take things slow. 

They had both agreed that this was the best thing for both of them, to do the whole “friends” thing first, and it was working, better than either of them had anticipated, really. He knew they were on the brink, so close to taking that next step. He was ready, and he thought Michael was too, but he was also afraid, terrified really, of messing everything up again… Michael was too important for that, _ they _were too important. 

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Isobel scoffed dragging Alex from his thoughts. “It’s like you guys are back in high school or something, tip toeing around each other. Except you know how this ends. We _ all _know how this ends. So now it’s just like we’re all participating in some weird, drawn out foreplay thing you all got going on. Seriously, you two, figure your shit out already!”

“Um, wow, I feel like I might be missing something here,” Kyle looked at Alex curiously but shrugged it off when Alex gave him an almost imperceptible shake of the head. The best course of action here was to simply ignore Isobel and hope she got distracted by the next shiny thing to come along.

“So, you gonna sit down, or...” Alex trailed off, raising his brow in a silent question.

“Uh, no actually,” Kyle dragged a hand through his hair, glancing towards the entrance again before focusing back on Alex, with a shy smile. “I can’t stay long, a friend of mine is in town and we’re just meeting up here before—”

“There you are!” 

Happiness lit up Kyle’s face as he set his drink on the table and turned to greet the strikingly handsome man standing behind him with a long, lingering hug. Everyone watched in stunned silence as Kyle’s _ friend _ threaded his hand into Kyle’s hair and pulled him into a kiss that even more shockingly Kyle returned. Quite enthusiastically.

“Damn, I missed you,” he murmured as he pulled away, dropping his arm to rest loosely at Kyle’s waist as Kyle turned to introduce him to the shell-shocked group. 

“Well, I certainly can’t fault your taste,” Alex smirked, giving the newcomer an appreciative once over before subtly watching his friends out of the corner of his eye. He felt a perverse thrill as he watched their reactions. He knew it wasn’t particularly nice of him to enjoy this so much, but damn it, it was about time they knew about Kyle, he wasn’t exactly in the closet or anything. Their group of friends just had a bad habit of being so focused on their own problems—justifiably so, most times—that they often failed to see what was right in front of their faces.

“So, uh, this is Jason. A friend of mine from Med school,” Kyle told them, pinkened cheeks warring with the pride and fondness on his face as he made the introductions. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Alex told Jason warmly, leaning forward to shake his hand and take the pressure off of everyone else—it was the least he could do. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Thanks, you too.” Jason’s hand was warm, like his smile and his handshake was firm. Alex liked him immediately.

Kyle gave him a relieved smile as he took Jason’s hand, “Well, we should probably get going if we want to make it to dinner on time.”

“But I thought—” Jason’s mouth snapped shut when Kyle gave him a rather pointed look that no one could possibly have misinterpreted. 

“Oh yeah... sorry, looks like we have to get going or we’re going to be late. It was nice meeting you all,” Jason agreed readily with a comically neutral expression. Alex noted the laughter in his eyes as the two waved goodbye before quickly making their way towards the exit.

“What the hell? Since when has _ Valenti _ been gay?” 

With that, the tension broke as snorts of laughter filled the relative silence. Isobel leaned over Liz to pat her brother’s back sympathetically as she tried—and failed—to affect a more serious expression. She completely lost it though when Liz stated, quite emphatically, that Kyle was definitely _ not _ gay. Everyone joined in, including Liz, when Max fixed her with an unimpressed look.

“Not helping,” he told her flatly, but the corners of his mouth were already turning up.

“Kyle’s bi,” Alex explained matter-of-factory once the laughter had finally died down, figuring Kyle wouldn’t mind if he clarified things a bit, not after that epic display he had just treated them all too anyway. 

“Wait, you knew?” Liz asked, leaning across the table. “How come you didn’t say anything?”

“It wasn’t my place, Liz.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I’m sorry,” Liz replied sheepishly “But still—”

“So, how come he told you?” 

Isobel’s eyes widened at the sharp tone in Michael’s voice and she moved to lay a hand on Michael’s arm but he shrugged it off, turning to give Alex his full attention.

“Well?” Michael prompted snidely as Alex continued staring at him, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

“Uh, Why wouldn’t he?” 

His confusion only grew when the others suddenly decided that now would be a great time to go get shots before awkwardly scrambling out of the booth, leaving him alone with Michael.

“What the hell, Guerin?” Alex turned, ready to give Michael a piece of his mind, but pulled up short when he saw Michael looking back at him with pain filled eyes instead of the anger from before and a vulnerable expression that he couldn’t make sense of. 

“Michael—”

His voice was soft, almost hesitant as he leaned forward to skim his fingertips down Michael’s cheek. 

“Hey, talk to me, Michael. What is this about?”

“Not him,” Michael stammered. “I know I fucked up before, but please, not him, okay?”

“What? What are you talking about? Michael, I don’t—”

“I get it, he’s hot, and smart and a doctor for fucks sake. He’s a god-damn hero! And he’s human and basically perfect in every way I’m not. And I know I don’t have any right to ask this of you, but please, just, not him, okay? Anyone else, I can handle anyone else. It’ll suck but I’ll learn to deal with it, but please—”

“Wait? You think—Seriously? Kyle and me? That’s what this is about?” Alex’s voice grew more shrill as he talked. “What the hell gave you the impression that Kyle and I were a thing? That we would _ ever _ be a thing?”

“Well, you two spend a lot of time together,” Michael argued. “It was bad enough when I thought he was straight, but he’s not. What was I supposed to think, especially when you’ve apparently known about him this whole time, when no one else did.”

“Yeah, because it came up when he apologized for all the shit in high school, not because we’ve been secretly pining for each other,” Alex huffed indignantly. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Alex retorted before something dawned on him. “Wait... you think Kyle’s hot?”

“No.” 

Michael’s cheeks grew pink as Alex smirked at him. “Pretty much perfect? Isn’t that why you said?”

“I wasn’t in my right mind. Obviously,” Michael scoffed.

“I don’t know,” Alex mused. “I think maybe I’m the one who should be worried here... I mean, he _ is _ a doctor.”

“I’m telling you, Valenti is _ not _ my type,” Michael grumbled.

“Oh yeah, so what is your type then?” Alex teased. His smile slipping as Michael gave him an open and appraising look. A deep inhale dragged Alex’s eyes down to Guerin’s lips just as his tongue darted out, leaving them slick and shiny in its wake. Desire, quick and sharp, shot through him and he forced himself to look away. 

A bit of the usual swagger returned as Michael cocked his head lazily to the side, “My type huh?”

Alex waited him out, fighting not to squirm as Michael flirtatiously raked his eyes down the length of his body in blatant appreciation. “Tall. Dark. Handsome,” Michael’s voice, low and gruff, went straight to Alex’s cock and he finally gave in, shifting on the bench to try and relieve some of the pressure as his pants grew tight. They were pressed too close together for Michael not to notice the effect he was having on him, so Alex didn’t even try to hide it anymore. 

“So far, Kyle seems like he’d be exactly your type,” Alex managed, stubbornly ignoring just how breathless his voice had become.

Michael shook his head slowly, watching Alex intently throughout.

“I’m not done yet,” he argued. 

“Then by all means,” he whispered back, close enough now to see Michael’s pupils blown wide and to hear the hitch in his breath…

**ISOBEL**

Isobel took the friendly hug in stride. Even the kiss Valenti’s hot friend planted on him wasn’t _ that _ earth shattering. Just _ boys being boys _… or at least boys who were comfortable with their own sexuality and not afraid to show affection towards one another, that is.

It wasn’t until Valenti pulled the man closer, tilting his head to deepen the kiss into something that was most definitely _ not _platonic, that Isobel felt her mouth drop open in genuine shock.

Well damn, she had _ not _seen that coming. 

A quick look around the table assured her that she was not alone, everyone else had similar looks of surprise as they watched the two making out in front of them. Everyone that is, except for Alex, who watched the two fondly and took the lead when the two stopped kissing long enough for Kyle to make introductions. Greeting the newcomer on their behalf while the rest of them picked their jaws up off the floor.

Huh, this could definitely end up complicating matters. She glanced quickly over at Michael, narrowing her eyes in thought as Kyle and his friend, _ Jason _, took their leave.

Of course it was Max in all his oblivious glory who broke the awkward silence that fell over the table afterwards. As Liz’s ex, Valenti had always been a sore spot for her brother, so she supposed he could be forgiven for putting his foot in his mouth, again.

She leaned over to console him but broke down laughing when Liz reminded him, and everyone else at the table, that Kyle most definitely _ did _like sex with women. She thought maybe they were going to be able to gloss over the whole incident, but then Alex had to go and highlight the fact that he’d known all along that Valenti batted for the other team, or was it the same team? Damn it, she hated all these fucking sports metaphors. It didn’t really matter though, since Valenti apparently played for both. 

“So how come he told you?” Michael asked angrily.

Shit, this is what she had been worried about. It wasn’t his fault, but Alex made Michael stupid, it was like he lost every brain cell he possessed whenever Alex got involved.

“Michael—” She reached out, hoping she could calm him down, but he pushed her away. He wanted to be angry, she could feel it pouring off him in waves. The anger. The frustration. The fear. The want, the lust… the _ love _. Everything slammed into her at once, tearing down her defenses. Alex’s surprise and confusion rushed in too, adding to the maelstrom of emotions swirling inside her. Faint hints of desire flickered through from him as well … and as always, that all consuming love that burned between the two of them. 

“I need a shot,” she yelled, trying to cut through the emotional noise and frantically shoving at Max and Liz to get out of the booth before she was forced to crawl over them. They scrambled out, looking at her with concern but she shook her head, pointing towards the bar with a determined look.

“Shots,” she demanded, giving them both a playful shove in the right direction as she inhaled deeply before finally linking her arms through theirs and dragging them physically up to the bar.

It didn’t take long to get Maria’s attention. One look at Isobel’s face and a quick glance towards the table they had just vacated and she was reaching behind her for the top shelf tequila she knew was Isobel and Liz’s favorite. It was one of the few things besides her brother that the two had in common.

“That bad, huh?” Maria asked with a secret smile, lining up three shot glasses on the bar. Adding a fourth when Isobel quirked an eyebrow at her. Max tried to protest but was no match for Isobel and Liz when the two decided to join forces. Maria and Max both laughed at their matching expressions of smug satisfaction—Max’s words, not hers--when Max gave in.

“What are we cheersing to?” Liz asked, grabbing two shots and passing one off to Max.

“Family and friends?” Max suggested with a shrug.

“To _ chosen _ family,” Maria corrected with a smile.

“Here, here!” Liz said, raising her shot glass in the air.

Isobel raised her own, clinking glasses with the others, before letting out a very enthusiastic, “Cheers!” and slamming the shot back.

“You want a chaser or something?” Maria asked, chuckling at Isobel’s pinched expression as she collected their glasses. 

“I’ll take my usual.” Maria nodded, grabbing the bottle of wine she kept under the bar, just for her and pouring her a glass as she looked at Max and Liz. 

“We’ll take two more beers,” Liz told her.

“So, I take it they’re up to it again?” She nodded towards the back of the room as she slid the two bottles towards Liz.

“Aren’t they always?” Isobel retorted.

“You know what I mean,” Maria pressed.

“Yeah, I know,” she moaned, slumping on to the bar. “But can we not talk about it right now? Please?” She looked up, giving Maria her best puppy dog eyes.

Maria gave her an exasperated look that promised they would be talking about this later, but moved on with a sigh. “So… I saw Jason’s back in town, you guys know how long he’s here for this—”

“Wait, you knew about Kyle too?” Liz exclaimed, dragging everyone’s eyes back to her. “He’s _ my _ ex, how come he told you and Alex, but he never told me?”

“You weren’t _ here _, Liz,” Maria told her bluntly, although her tone was gentle. 

“I’ve been here for almost two years now,” she argued, plopping onto the stool next to Isobel while Max leaned against the bar with a look of resignation. 

“Great, more feelings,” Isobel grumbled. Maria ignored her, of course, but still reached down to grab Isobel’s wine from under the counter. Setting the bottle in front of her as she kept her focus on Liz.

“Does he not _ want _me to know?” Liz continued.

Isobel snorted, “He wouldn’t kiss a guy right in front of you if he didn’t want you to know.”

“Liz,” Maria interjected firmly, glaring at Isobel. “He probably just thought you already knew. I mean, he’s never been the kiss and tell type, but he hasn’t really hidden it either.”

“Oh god, I really _ am _ a bad friend, aren’t I?”

Max and Maria were quick to object but Isobel had had enough. “Oh for fucks sake Liz, it’s not always about you! It’s not like you’re the only one who didn’t know, and honestly who cares if you didn’t? You’ve had shit going on. We’ve _ all _ had shit going on. Frankly, Valenti’s love life is the least of my concerns right now, unless he a Dr Hottie suddenly decide they’re up for a kinky threesome, starring yours truly.”

“Excuse me?”

Isobel smirked at Maria, ignoring the retching sounds coming from Max as she corrected herself, “Sorry sweetie, I meant foursome.”

Maria canted her head, appearing to consider the idea, “Valenti does certainly know his way around a body,” she mused thoughtfully as Liz snorted, obviously fighting not to laugh at their antics. “It’s all the anatomy classes,” she supplied helpfully, before the laughter won out and she collapsed back against her boyfriend’s chest. 

“That’s better,” Isobel told her with a self-satisfied nod before swiping the wine bottle and her glass from the bar. “And on that note, I think it’s time we finally addressed the _ other _elephant in the room.”

“Is-” Max tried, but she was already wending her way through the crowd, zeroing in on Michael and Alex with a determined look in her eyes.

**ALEX**

“Oh for fuck sake, would you two just kiss already and put us all out of our fucking misery?”

They jumped apart to see Isobel standing in front of the table with her hands on her hips, glaring down at them both.

“What the hell Is?” Michael yelled angrily.

“No. I’ve had enough,” Isobel snapped. “I have enough of my own mental shit to deal with. I shouldn’t have to deal with your emotional overflow too, just because the two of you can’t get your shit together. Do you know _ why _ Maria stays on the other side of the room whenever you’re both here? Trust me, Michael it’s not because of your ill-advised attempt at a relationship that lasted all of two minutes. It’s because you both project so fucking much anytime you two get anywhere near each other these days that it’s overwhelming. I _ can’t _ block you out. Maria _ really _can’t block you out. And frankly, we have both had enough!”

“Is, I’m sorry—”

“No, I don’t want your sorries, Michael. I want you to fix this.”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to do,” Alex protested. 

“Yes, and it’s commendable, starting over as friends and all that. Working on your emotional baggage, I get it. Which is why I’ve tried to be supportive all this time. Why we’ve _ all _ been supportive. But it has been _ months _, hell, it’s almost been a whole fucking year, just when are you all planning to take the next step? Huh?”

Michael mumbled something under his breath as Alex stared Isobel down. It didn’t take long before they both caved, promising her that they would figure their shit out before they all got together again. Alex meant it too. It had never occurred to him that their issues had been affecting those around them to such a degree.

“Good,” Isobel said with a nod, “Now, I just want one more thing from both of you and then I’ll let you escape, like I know you so desperately want to.” 

“And what might that be?” The wariness in Michael’s voice worried Alex a little as they both looked up at Isobel expectantly.

“Nothing much,” Isobel promised sweetly. “I just want the two of you to kiss.”

“Seriously?”

“Why?”

Isobel rolled her eyes at both of them before patiently explaining as if she was talking to a couple of toddlers, “I don’t trust the two of you to walk out of here and do it yourselves, at least not within this century anyways, and honestly my patience is gone. So I’ve decided to give you a little kick in the pants, as it were. Consider it my gift to you… that and my continued sanity. You two don’t want me to actually lose it, do you?”

The both shook their heads, but wisely remained silent.

“Well, get to it then,” Isobel waved a hand at them encouragingly. 

Michael sighed but squared his shoulders as he turned to face Alex head on, glancing up at Isobel before quickly looking away and shaking his head a little. The movement caused one of his curls to fall softly over his eye and Alex chuckled as he pushed it back up and out of the way. He stubbornly ignored Isobel, still looming above them, as his hand trailed lightly down Michael’s face before gently cradling his neck to pull him closer. 

Michael surged forward at the last moment, like he always did, capturing Alex’s mouth with his own. The tension between them snapped as they crashed together and finally gave in to the heat and the hunger that had boiled and raged just beneath the surface all these months. He clung to Michael, clawing at his back as he tried to pull him even closer, breathing in the taste of him as the kiss deepened and grew desperate. 

“Okay yeah, maybe that wasn’t my best idea ever.” 

Alex barely registered Isobel’s voice as he was roughly pulled from the booth. His instincts kicking in as he turned, fist raised, ready to take down whoever had grabbed him. He just managed to pull his punch as Max jerked back in surprise. 

“Whoa, dude, it’s me. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that,” Max held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

“Then why did you?” Michael demanded. 

“Because neither one of us wanted to watch our brother get it on in the middle of a bar,” Isobel interjected dryly. “And words weren’t working.”

“We’re leaving.” Alex made an executive decision, grabbing Michael’s hand before he could rise to the bait and dragging him out of the bar.

**ISOBEL**

“Well, that worked out just swimmingly, Is.”

“It did, didn’t it?” Isobel agreed, giving her brother a big grin.

“I was being sarcastic,” Max argued, impatience and adrenaline coloring his tone.

“Can’t argue with results, brother dear,” Isobel countered while an obviously inebriated Liz snickered into her hand.

“That could have gone much worse and you—”

“Oh my god Max, stop! Tonight is about having fun, you big party pooper!” Isobel plopped down in the booth, but misjudged her momentum, falling over as she hit the seat and breaking into a fit of giggles. 

“Fuck, you guys, I think I’m drunk!”

Liz fell over in the seat across from her in a show of giggling solidarity at this pronouncement while Max affected his best, “why me?” look as he took them both in.

He was busy trying to push a still laughing Liz over enough to sit down when Isobel bolted upright, as she suddenly thought of something that seemed very important in her current, drunken state.

“Oh my god, how in the hell did _ Valenti _end up having more game than the rest of us?”

“I wouldn’t say he has more game,” Max protested.

“Oh please, you’re biased,” Isobel said, dismissing his protest out of hand.

“Who has more game than you?” Maria asked, coming up to bus the table next to theirs. She shook her head as they all spoke up at once.

“Nobody!”

“Kyle!”

“Valenti.”

“Okay….” Maria smirked as Isobel started listing all the reasons why Kyle had the most game in the group, ticking them off on her fingers, one by one.

“Max was jealous of him for getting the girl of his dreams.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t keep her,” Max grumbled under his breath.

“Michael was jealous of him just for being bffs with Alex and then basically lost it when he thought they _ might _ have hooked up. _ You _dated him…” she gestured at Maria who scoffed. “I wouldn’t exactly call what we did dating.”

“He has hot as fuck doctors flying into town just for a booty call… hell, even I’m curious now to find out what all the fuss is about!” Isobel finished with a flourish.

“Oh, you mean, besides being hot, fit, bi-lingual, _ and _a doctor?” Maria teased.

“Yeah, besides all that…”

Maria bent down next to her, lowering her voice so Isobel had to lean in close to hear her, “If you really want to find out, perhaps something can be arranged.” For the second time that night Isobel’s mouth fell open in complete and utter shock.

Maria gave her a wink as she sauntered off, calling back over her shoulder.

“Think about it!”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/8verity8) if you want to talk Roswell or geek out over our otps together.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos feed the muse! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
